McIlveen welcomes 10 year low for household landfill waste

1 December 2016

Environment Minister Michelle McIlveen today welcomed the continued decrease in the amount of household waste sent to landfill.

The annual household landfill rate for 2016-17 fell to 39.7%, a decrease of 3.0 percentage points compared to 2014-15. This is the lowest annual level since 2006-07, when detailed Council monitoring began.

Household recycling also edged higher from 42.0% in 2014-15 to 42.2% in 2015-16, whilst Council collected municipal waste sent for energy recovery increased to 17.6%, up 2.7 percentage points. It was significant that these positive changes took place against a backdrop of increasing waste, up 1.9% or 17,734 tonnes in the same period.

Welcoming the reduction in landfill waste, Miss McIlveen said: “These figures, the lowest for 10 years, demonstrate that the continuing momentum to divert waste from landfill will significantly benefit our environment. However, the figures also indicate a levelling off of the recycling rate. By not recycling more we are missing out on opportunities to maximise the value of waste. Recycled materials provide resources for the manufacturing industry that will result in greater opportunities for the local economy and increase employment opportunities.

“I would encourage more householders to think ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. With a little extra effort from all of us, we can collectively make a positive contribution. I believe we as a society can do even better and by playing our part we can help to improve the environment and support the local economy.”